good morning. it is friday, december 28, 2012. welcome to "cbs this morning." president obama and congressional leaders will meet later today trying to hammer out a deal on the fiscal cliff. we'll ask republican senator bob corker if a deal is likely and tell you how no deal could significantly impact everything from the price of milk to the price of gas. we also look back at the life and legacy of general norman schwarzkopf. and a double agent tells us how facebook was used to infiltrate al qaeda. but we begin this morning with today's "eye opener," your world in 90 seconds.

the house and republican have left town. the negotiations between the president and speaker have fallen apart. you can't legislate with yourself. republicans have bent over backward. we wanted an agreement, but we had no takers. >> washington scrambles to avert the fiscal cliff. president obama has asked the congressional leaders to meet at the white house today. >> if they cannot reach a deal, the economists warn that could trigger another recession. >> are they going to avoid a fiscal cliff, eric? [ laughter ] as stormin' norman has died. he commanded the u.s.-led international coalition and forced saddam hussein's forces out of kuwait. some of the same states are bracing for yet another round of snow. more than 14,000 longshoreman plans to walk out on sunday. >> if the strike happens, we're going to be in trouble. for the second time this

month a man has been pushed to his death in the path of a new york subway train. >> so many crazy people are running the streets. >> an uninvited guest came to a picnic in florida. >> all that -- >> somebody else got the shower on the sidelines. >> jamal crawford who i think should be an all-star this year. coming off the bench. we're dangerous. and all that matters. >> hillary clinton plans to head back to work just in time for the knew year, almost three weeks after being sidelined this morning. >> all that on "cbs this morning." >> if you get angry and show it, you're going to live longer. >> he gives a speech about hitting the debt ceiling. i'd like to see if he comes to a million much less $16.4 trillion. captioning funded by cbs it's friday. welcome to "cbs this morning"

th, everybody everybody. i'm jeff glor along with rebecca jarvis. the fiscal cliff is now just four days away. president obama meets with congressional leaders for one last effort before they reach the deadline. major garrett is at the white house. major, good morning. >> good morning, rebecca and jeff. president obama meets with the top congressional leaders. no deal can be reached impasse without their meeting. so far the fiscal talks have been when all four of these leaders have been present. >> whether he meant it or not, it seems exhaustive. >> i mean what's going on here? >> what indeed. president obama returned to the white house in a grim mood. he met with no congressional

leaders and said nothing about his efforts to avert the fiscal cliff. talks continue between senior white house and congressional staff, but that's been true throughout then tire saga. with the deadline looming there were dire predictions. >> come the first of this year, americans will have less income than they have today. >> and rekrimm nations. >> now republicans have bent over backward. we've stepped way, way out of our comfort zone. we wanted an agreement, but we had no takers. >> the senate's top democrat said it has nothing to do with phone calls but house republican obstruction. >> thehouse of representatives is operating without the house of representatives. it's being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker, not allowing the vast majority of the house of representatives to get what they want. >> house speaker john boehner oldered republicans back to the capitol for a rare sunday night

session. republicans expect to vote then on whatever fiscal cliff bill the senate passes. all this one day before the deadline and the warnings of a recession that have rattled wall street and consumer confidence. >> they know it will have an anything ticket impact on the economy and they know it will have a negative impact on their families and they expect us to be here and work and we're not. >> deadlines are approaching. 2 million americans who have been out of work for more than 6 months will start losing their unemployment benefits tomorrow and the nation runs out of borrowing authority to finance or $16 trillion debt on monday. they can use extraordinary measures until they go into default. extraordinary. that might be a word that apply to then tire situation. >> major garrett, thank you very much. republican bob corker of tennessee has offered proposaled to break this. senator, good morning to you. >> good morning, jeff. good to be with you.

>> are we going over the fiscal cliff? >> it dmends on what that means. i think 98% of our country can be assured that over the next short period of time, their income taxes are going to be the same, but this congress as you know has been more prepared than any to deal with the big issues or nation faces. and what you're seeing, jeff, is a derelection of duty at every level, a lack of courage to deal with the spending issues. unfortunately, you know, today the average american doesn't realize there's 40% of government services that they're not paying for. only one third of medicare is paid for by those people who actually use it. and because there's been this scherr shau ra charade going on, the left and ride shielding the people from the true cost of government, we don't have any constituency to help reduce government spending. because we even not dealt with that issue, there's been no progress on the entitlement

spending. this is unfortunate going to carry on through to the debt ceiling debate. what that means is every american is going to be harmed because the economy is not going to be wait should be. so because we have lacked the courage to face up, to deal with these issues, we here in washington are going to hurt the american economy, we're going to hurt americans at every level, and to me it's just a travesty that we've not been willing to deal with this issue when for the last two years, jeff, we have known this time is coming. no congress has been more prepared to deal what this issue than us. >> do you think there's going to be progress coming this afternoon? >> probably the worst-case scenario will come out of the meeting today. that, is we will kick the can down the road, jeff, we'll do some small deal, and we'll create another fiscal cliff to deal with this fiscal cliff. again, a total lack of courage, lack of leadership. >> senator corker, does congress

realize how ridiculous this looks to the american public, dueling pros conferences. we're minutes away from a fiscal cliff and no one in washington is taking it seriously. >> i think most understand. i think you both know i laid out a very detailed bit. i shared wit the white house, with speaker boehner, with leaders at every level. 've put forth an entitlement package. the problem is we don't want to deal with the issues. yes, i understand that. we should not have back room meetings. the reason we have back-door meetings is, again, dwoejts have the courage to debate these on the floor. >> so no one gets the blame. instead everyone gets the blame. >> that's exactly right. >> i want to ask you about speaker boehner. plan b didn't work out. his own party didn't vote for

it. i wonder would he be willing to put out a deal that he knows the gop won't back but it will get them to a deal? >> i don't know what he's thinking about. i really think what should happen today is on the senate floor we should go ahead and take up the issue of taxes, and we should try to pass legislation and send it back over to the house. i mean i think that's where the real play ought to be. this afternoon's meeting feels much to me like optics to make it look like we're doing something. let me just say one more time. this is a total der liksz of duty at every level. i've been very surprise thad the president has not laid out a very specific plan to deal with this but candidly koj could have done the same and i think the american people should be disgusted. this is going to drag on out into next year. the economy is going to weaken as a result and it's all because

of a total lack of courage here in washington to face up to the real issues. >> i'm sorry, we have to wrap up, senator corker, but we do appreciate it. thank you. >> food to see you. >> thank you. good to see you, jeff. great to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> does this make what you heard from senator corker more or less optimistic that we get a deal? >> about the same. i don't think he said anything revealing. i think that's about right. i think we could get some form of a deal. i think there's a bit of panic now on both sides, all sides, because we're talking essenti essentially about three people in a room, for people in a room. without an appeal, what do you think of us getting something else. >> personally it looks less likely. without a crystal ball, it's hard to say. i think corker is right. the more we punt, the less likely.

there's no indication right now that they're more oppressed to dealing with the grander scale. >> what about the notion that a lot might want to punt on this. that is republicans in congress specifically then can say in january if they pass a new bill that they cut taxes technically speaking. is there such a notion? >> there is. it's true for both sides. it's true for the president as well because he knows he will get to tax the higher earnings. i tlifrmg is something for both sides here. it think it is worse for republicans in the longer term if we don't havinge a deal, but don't think it's great for anybody, i just don't. >> it's the ill lesion of mark ts. >> we're going to open a market next week that's in turmoil, right? we're not going to look at the balance sheet and say it's worse for boehner. >> and not just in the united

states but the world is watching this. >> that's right. there are serious, sear lus implications. >> thanks, maggy haverman. this morning he's being called a general. the commander of operation desert storm died thursday of complications of pneumonia. as bob yore reported general schwarzkopf was one of the most decorated leaders. >> reporter: he delivered fiery briefings during the 1991 persian gulf war. >> is simple fact of the matter is that now every time an iraqi airplane takes off the ground it's running away. >> reporter: the american-led coalition to remove saddam hussein's forces from kuwait, general schwarzkopf was front

and center as he watched the war. for more than a month they struck strategic iraqi targets. then in desert storm he surprised the troops with a surprising and aggressive ground campaign. he restored confidence in the u.s. military. >> as far as saddam hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational art, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general nor is he a soldier. other than that, he's grail military man. i want you to know that. >> a west point graduate, schwarzkopf served two tours of duty in vietnam and earned three silver stars for bravery but it wasn't till the gulf war that his larger-than-life personality elevated him to hero status, known to many as stormin' norman. at the same time his temper made

for pop culture parody. >> i would have gone over there myself and beat the tar out of my parameter. >> reporter: in 191991 george b issued him the medal of honor. schwarzkopf who served his country most of his life knew the value of peace and the price of confrontation. >> the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. >> reporter: general norman schwarzkopf was 78 years old. for "cbs this morning," bob orr in washington. schwarzkopf's former boss is likely to be hospitalized for a while according to a top aid. the 41st president is in the

methodist hospital being treated for a persistent fever. his staffs person says put your harps back in the closet. meaning he's sick but not that sick. the storm left western pennsylvania and new york with a foot of snow yesterday. minewhile more than 35,000 homes and businesses remain without power. at least 16 deaths around the country are blamed on that storm. meteorologist jeff beer del ber has more. >> the snow will be more around the coast of new york city and philadelphia. first things first, let's talk about what's happening. you can see the rain breaking out in portions of the northeast. there may be thunderstorms throughout the day. we'll track this system later

today and especially tonight. it moves into the southern part of hoi valley. then tomorrow morning it moves into d.c. and philly. it's going to be a mix of rain and snow in d.c. probably a mixture in philly and new york. place just northwest of there and also into southeast nemgd could see as much as six inches of snowfall, and although it's not major system, it's probably going to cause travel problems tomorrow. >> all right, jeff berardelli, thanks so much. you know about the fiscal cliff. here comes the container cliff. long shoremen plan to go on strike. that could cost american companies about billion dollars a day. anna werner is in houston at one of the ports that could be facing a walkout. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, rebecca and jeff. yes.

there are two days to go before the strike deadline. they're at an impasse. at issue is pay for those working in the ports. but if it doesn't get resolved, the consequence could be a devastated impact on the economy. as the rest of the country focuses on the gridlock in houston, many are working overtime trying to get as many shipments out as they can before it comes to a standstill. the vice president of the national retail federation says a shutdown at the docks would have a ripple effect on the global economy. >> the ports are a primary piece of the global supply chain. if they're not operating efficiently, it slows down the system and hurts everything using the system. >> reporter: negotiations

between the international longshore men union and the shipping companies are deadlocked. a shutdown would affect 15 points from boston down the east coast of florida and into the gulf of mexico as far west as houston. these ports handle nearly 50% of all ocean-going container shipments to the united states. >> essentially everything is going to shut down that's related to the points. you're talking hundreds of thousands of jobs that could be related. newark truck driver al lopes is fearing for the worst, moving as many containers as possible, fearing a strike will leave him without work. >> we'rer this make the money or don't make the money. if we don't go in, i don't get paid. >> the two sides have until

12:01 sunday to reach an agreement. it is possible, however, that the president steps in if he consider this a national emergency. rebecca and jeff, back to you. >> thank you so much. time to show you other headlines. "usa today" says secretary of state hillary clinton is expected to return to work next week. clinton picked up a stomach virus three weejs ago. then she hit her head, fainted, and formed a concussion. the new york "daily news" says a man was pushed to his death in front of a subway train last night. witnesses say the whom fled this scene had been following the victim and mumbling. police are searching for her. a man was pushed in front of the subway earlier in the month. what is going on. they're calling 59,000 nanny baby recliners. there have been

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in his first tv interview, a danish spy tells "60 minutes" he was so close to anwar al awlaki they used him to find a woman for him on facebook. this morning we'll look at the story of a double agent who helped the cia find and kill the al qaeda leader. and some experts say if we go over the fiscal cliff, gas prices would go down, food prices would go up, and food safety could be compromised. we'll show you how it could affect every part of our lives on "cbs this morning." >> announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by

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welcome back to "cbs this morning." there are few who wanted to kill terrorist anwar al awlaki. he was killed 16 months ago. >> this sunday morton storm is interviewed. he says awlaki trusted him so much he asked storm to help him find a wife. >> reporter: storm says the cia saw awlaki's request for a bride as an opening, a way to get closer to the illusive terrorist, and they eagerly

signed on for a plan to find awlaki a new wife. storm went on facebook of all places and tried to connect with awlaki supporters. >> i had no one except for a woman contacting me saying, do you know sheikh anwar? and she said yeah. >> aminah had recently converted to islam. she wrote that she wanted to marry awlaki. storm had him send this video which he gave to us. >> this recording is done specifically for sister alinah at her request. >> reporter: storm made two videos of alinah. >> brother, it's me, aminah. i tape this just so you can see

how i look. >> and then this, a second more revealing video. >> this is me without the head scarf so you can see my hair. you see me without it, and i hope you will be pleased with it. >> reporter: by june 2010 she was living in yemen in the arms of her new husband anwar al awlaki. >> with us now is cbs news analyst juan zahraty. >> i think al qaeda is under a great deal of stress both at its core and at its affiliates. they're having to allow others to get close to seen your leaders so in some ways it's getting easier but not easy by any stretch. al qaeda is very concerned with who it allows in. that's why you always have people trying to get into the

inner circles. >> why would someone like morton storm be the ideal recruit? >> he was trying to draw in westerners to help not only draw in yemen but attacking the west. with someone like mr. storm you had a westerner, someone who had a passport. he could travel in europe and someone who wouldn't have fit the typical security profiles. >> storm had no doubt that his efforts led to the death of awlaki. while this story might be true, there are a lot of people involved in these operations. >> absolutely. i think there's never a single piece to the puzzle in finding a terrorist like anwar awlaki. there's usually multiple angles, sources, multiple ways for intelligent services finding people like him. no doubt there were operatives giving information, giving information, but that's how intelligence works, happens.

it's putting pieces of a puzzle together. thichg that's what happened here in finding and killing anwar al awlaki. >> i was fascinated they he would want a western bride. it makes sense why he's got western recruits. but western brides as well? >> keep in mind he was born in the united states, made his name in the jihadi circle as a western voice for the movement, and so to have a western wife or western-based wife was probably helpful to him. he was probably looking for someone who could give him insight into what was happening in europe and that's what perhaps made a croatian wife more attractive. so not surprising. the impact of al awlaki's death now. what is the status like? >> he had become an important figure. he had been a voice to recruit people and an operational head.

he's now off the battlefield. the problem is, though, rebecca, al qaeda in the arabian area looks more like a surgeoncy and those affiliates remain a threat and remain a central to al qaeda's plan to attack the west. so he may be off the battlefield but the threat remains. >> juan zarate, thank you very much. >> thank you, jeff. >> you can see lara logan's interview on "60 minutes" right here on sunday night on cbs. we'll look at the full impact of the standoff in washington with market watch's kelli grant. that's next on "cbs this morning." hello, i'm alex trebek.

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in some cases that does force them to offer more on sale. you see that with retailers that that's going to be impacted in such a way. but there comes a point where they can't drop price any further. >> they have to make ends meet. >> exactly. gas prices, another area that could be impacted here. >> some people would call it the silver lining, although a lot of experts don't call it a good sign. we could see gas prices go way down, 20, 30 a barrel is what i'm hearing, and that's going to translate to much lower gas prices to consumers. the flip side, you're spending a lot of money on everything else. you probably don't have a whole lot of places you want to drive. >> there's no silver lining when it happens anyway. when it comes to air travel,

what happens? >> lots of problems, the faa, tsa. fewer air control officers potentially. they're not going to be updating a lot of the technology that helps flights take off and land in the same manner. you could see problems with delayed flights, delayed scheduled. tsa, longer lines. we all love that anyway. >> what you're talking about is not necessarily an economic issue. it becomes a safety issue at that point. >> it does. there are actually a lot of these cuts that could in the end affect consumer safety. >> how about retailers as we're thinking about what happens for the rest of the year and sales and inventory sitting around because consumers have put wbac? >> we saw that already. they didn't spend as much as the retailers thought they were going to and that's going to lead to more inventory in the new year. we could see a lot more discounts. of course, if you don't feel like you're making a lot of money, any money is not going to

be a good enough sail. >> more american jobs than ever depend on investment from china. we're going to go to california this morning where the chinese are finding bargains they can't pass up on "cbs this morning."

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it's been one week since we had a panda update, so here it is, folks. a jarvis request. >> yes. more pandas. >> what a cute little guy. the san diego zoo said this little panda had his exam on thursday and passed with flying

colors, and the cue tests. welcome back. here's one factor you might not expect. as ben tracey reports, investors from china are putting billions of dollars into american business to meet the increasing chinese demand for u.s. products. >> reporter: scott meadows runs silenus vineyards in california. there's a reason he put the bald eagle on the bottle. >> that was a specific request from the owners in china. >> reporter: chinese investors bought it and now 90% of the wine from here, that's 9,000 cases, is shipped to china. what does the chinese want with a vineyard in nappa valley. >> there's a big demand for

goods that are scarce. they're buying american-made products and sending their money back over here. >> reporter: and the jobs stay here. >> and the jobs stay here. >> reporter: they have invested $16.4 billion in the u.s. in the past decade. $1.3 billion in california companies, a record $560 million in just the past year. the chinese are also boosting the golden state's housing recovery. they've bought one out of every ten homes sold in the past year. >> compared to the high end housing like in beijing, this is not that expensive. >> reporter: di mi nebras meng student here. his parents thought rending a dorm was a waste of money. >> my parents bought me a house. >> reporter: this housing complex in irvine, california,

is being billed for chinese buyers. separate wok cooking rooms, no unlucky "4s" in the addresses and multiple entrances for multiple living. >> we're very, very happy. >> reporter: back in nappa, scott meadows said chinese wealth is an opportunity, not a threat for american business. >> america is known for quality so the chinese look at american made productnd and foreign made products in general as a thing they can trust. >> reporter: after all with the eagle on the bottle because what so many chinese want is something made in the usa. for centimeter ben tracy, napa valley. it's a huge opportunity. growing middle class and they want what the united states has.

losing weight is the most popular new year's resolution. coming up, experts saying a smart diet, not a fad diet will get the job done. that's ahead on "cbs this morning." stick around. if you're living with moderate to severe crohn's disease, and it feels like your life revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common.

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it is 8:00 a.m. welcome back to "cbs this morning" this morning. with four days left to the fiscal cliff house leaders head to the white house for talks. and we'll remember the best pop culture stories from "fifty shades of grey" to others. first your "eye opener" at 8:00. president obama meeting at the white house with the four top congressional leaders. the tedline for the fiscal cliff is now just four days away. the president has not laid out a specific plan to deal with this.

congress could have done the same. i think the american people should be disgusted. the commander of operation desert storm died from complications of pneumonia. >> the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. the powerful storm moving cross the country is finally moving out. >> although it's not major system it's going to cause problems for tomorrow. >> less than a few days. the longshoremen and the shipping companies are at an impasse. >> this is in real-time. >> real-time. >> is that a ring tone? what ring tone was that? >> i have "dancing queen" is my general ring tone for most people and then my wife's is "super trooper." i'm rebecca jarvis with jeff

glor. charlie, gayle, and norah are off. the fiscal cliff negotiations are down to the wire and this afternoon president obama meets with congressional leaders to try to come to terms on a compromised plan. major garrett is at the white house. major, good morning. >> good morning, rebecca and jeff. this meeting brings together all the key players. president obama, top leaders harry read and nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell and him. it was only a short while ago that john boehner was called a dictator. with the deadline looming the goal appears to be to shield most american taxpayers from automatic tax increase. now, the president's already agreed to raise income taxes on americans earning more than $400,000. that's up from his $250,000 goal set in the campaign, and there's also an effort to extend jobless

pen fits for americans out of work for six months or more. >> major, do we have any reason to believe that this time it is different? >> well, certainly. the deadline is real. the house is coming back into session on sunday. even is going to be here either to preside over america going over the fiscal cliff or last-minute very small deal that averted for a while and leaves more negotiations for the future. >> major garrett, thank you very much. general norman schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition for the gulf war died yesterday. he tricked and outflanked saddam hussein's forces in just 101 hours. he gave this famous reply to a question about the iraqi leader. >> as far as saddam hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational art, nor is

he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he as a sold your. other than that, he's great military man. i want you to know that. >> schwarzkopf also led troops in vietnam, getting three medals of valor. he died from complications from pneumonia. schwarzkopf was 78 years old. george h.w. bush is still in guarded condition this morning but his chief of staff said, quote, put the harps back in the closet. he's been moved to intensive care in the hospital in houston. he's being treated for a persistent fever. >> when mr. bush was vice president ronald reagan leaned heavily on british prime minister margaret 24567 thatche. new documentation sheds light on

their relationship. >> reporter: these documents show moments of affection and irritation between president reagan and prime minister thatcher. this was her public line on the falklands. >> i came down firmly on our side and we're very grateful to them. >> reporter: a tiny british-ruled island invaded by argentina in 1982. the british sent troops and warships to retake it but behind the scenes there were conflicts with reagan asking for a truce. her asking for support. you are the only person would understand. she was not always happy with his response. describing one of his late-night responses regarding the falklands as so vague i didn't think it was worth reading. the iron lady could have a

velvet side, adding a p.s. to the president who was a bit under the weather. warm personal regards and a rapid recovery to full health and strength. the world needs you. yours sincerely, margaret thatcher. the documents released by britain's national archives also showed them asking their british counterparts for fashion advice about what mr. reagan should wear for a horseback ride with the queen during a 1982 visit. the answer, smart but casual, not formal riding attire, advice the president took. the british were concerned that it took the president so long to respond to the queen's invitation for that visit, the white house official said later he thought perhaps it was because mrs. reagan needed time too consult her astrologer and decide if it was an auspicious moment for such a trip.

jeff. >> thank you. it leads you to wonder. there's no indication that progress is being made behind the scenes. >> you'd like to hope. >> one would hope, right. the atlanta braves haven't used their screaming indian logo since the reagan years, but the controversial logo will be brought back next season as part of the team's new batting practice hats. they started using the screaming indian in 1984. they stopped because of the fwraups offended of that on sports uniforms. experts say that more than half the ones available now are fake. elvis presley tops this year's list of the most forged celebrity signatures. last time we checked he hadn't signed a signature in a while. he's followed by the beatles, first man on the moon, armstrong, and people are still forge kennedy's autograph.

>> there's no faking this. here are the most annoying words of 2012. this one, jeff? >> amazing? would that be in there? >> we'll see. for the fourth year, whatever is the most annoying phrase. like, in humber two on the list. followed by, you know. >> we criticize these but then we default to them. >> that's probably why people are so frustrated. they're used all the time. you know when people have nothing better to say? >> amazing. >> all right. it is

two of the biggest songs of this year we cannot get them out of our heads, and we'll show you how a couple of unknowns turned out "call me maybe" and "gangnam style" as we look back at the big pop culture stories of 2012. you're watching "cbs this morning." [ mother ] you can't leave the table

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if you're making a new year's resolution to lose weight, these guys are ready to help. >> "new york times" best-selling authors chris crowley and jen sacheck have written books on how to stay thinner this year. they say, yes, you can eat bread. very interesting. they'll be us next on "cbs this morning."

"this is george. he is a good little monkey and always very curious. one day george got an important letter. he's built a rocket ship to travel into space." google, how far is earth to the moon? the moon is 238,900 miles... "the great moment had come." 3, 2, 1... [ giggling ]

nice song selection here, guys. it was a close call on lake erie in michigan yesterday. the doll fell in the water. when somebody went to rescue the dog, he fell in the water. frozen up to his waist. a rescuer came up with a boat and pulled them both to safety. owner and dog are doing just fine this morning. >> glad to see that because it doesn't always work out that way. >> no. glad it did. >> four days from now it will be

january 1st. 8% reach their goal. of course, the most popular resolution is to lose weight. and one of the most anticipated new weight loss books is thinner this year. a diet and exercise program for living strong, thinner, around sexy. it's written by nutritionist chris crowley and jen sacheck. you need both to do it. >> hard. >> there's science to it. >> there's heavy science and we tell you all about it in the book. >> we know what happens when we eat junk food. we get father, but what happens inside the body? >> a lot of things happen. we eat too much, we gain fat and it's toxic. it surrounds our vital organs, causes a toxic disease. it's killing us. >> there's two things here, what you eat and what you do with your body. what's going on, chris, with our body and what does it take to

cement that habit? >> one of the nice things about the book, nice guys don't talk about exercise a lot. we talk about it all the time. it's the flywheel of maintenance. it does all kinds of stuff to help you lose weight, be healthier, more optimistic, or more energetic. we told people it makes a world of sense to work out semi hard six days a week. people go, what? way too scarey. but you have to do it. >> weight's become a bad busquos . >> wheat's become a bad buzz world. >> 1% of the americans have celiac disease and they can't have wheat in their diet. i think it's easy for us to say, hey, we can't eat wheat products. if we knock out whole grapes

we're knocking out essential b vitamins and fiber and if we're going to exercise six days a week we need good carbohydrates. >> it's interesting. you say inflammation is the root of a lot of problems. >> yep, yep. >> how is that? >> inflammation i think you have a hard time understanding because you can't really see it but fat cells send these signals to other organs, cells in the body that actually cause them to decay, be destroyed and ultim e ultimately lead to disease. so there's a fine balance between health and inflammation. you can do that with exercise. it's the same thing as a healthy diet. so diets high in anti-oxidants mitigate that situation. it's a combination of both but inflammation is at the root of a lot of these diseases. >> one of our big things is to give people the information so they know how their bodies work.

one of the nice things, you think of this potbelly being -- here's the fact. it's a fondant of disease and at night the rats come out. >> you talk about dead food being bad. when you talk about dead foot, what do you mean? >> nutrients. we need food for fuel but you need it for all the nutrients to make your body work right. every single molecule in your body needs a nutrient to work right. half the food we eat is dead. it doesn't have any nutrients. it's white flour that's had all the good stuff taken out, sugar, solid fats. half of our stuff has no nutrients. we're starving to death and getting fat. >> which is displacing all the healthy food we need. 40 plus essential vitamins and

nutrients and dead food are pushing the nutrients essenti essentially out of our diet. >> nobody knows what nutrients do. if you know, you're less likely to half your food as dead food. >> your number one piece of advice for someone staying on track in the news year? >> the great gift is exercise. excise is the flywheel of all kinds of stuff. it's so much easier do and it reminds you of who you are, why you're doing it. when you fall off the wagon which i do about every four days. >> that's nice to hear. >> exercise and get the whole thing going again. that's the great gift. >> jen sacheck and chris crowley, enjoy the book tour. >> it's on sale right now. many of us got to work out this year ""gangnam style."" including jarvis. >> in my office. >> it's one of this year's surprising pop culture moments.

we'll look at the pop stories of 2012 with joe levy, one of our

♪ hey, i just met you and this is crazy ♪ here's my number so call me maybe ♪ welcome back to "cbs this morning." that was pretty much or favorite pop culture moment in 2012. there were lots of others, of course, and billboard magazine editor joe levy is here with america's top stories an pop

culture. great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> talk about this in a magnificent way. we haven't seen something this magnificent go viral. >> magnificent, you can't stop using it. >> viral is one of the top stories in 2012. i ice not just "call me maybe" but "gan"gangnam style."" it started as a tweet from justin bieber. katy perry did it. cookie monster. everyone wanted to sing their own version of this song. you can't get it out of your head. so once you did it you wanted to get on youtube and get it out of your head into everyone else's. >> like "gangnam style" with more than a million views. >> korean rapper psy.

it's the pony dance. >> what fast fates me about the story is this thing was out on the internet for a while before it really started to go viral and it's word how this stuck catches at a moment. >> that's exactly right. one of the things we saw was twitter and facebook detective tating. it was on every talk show, every award show, everything you can think of after starting a tweet on your phone. you were like this video is funny, aisle press it. it is. it's as funny as they said. >> from tweets to facebook to social media, we move to books now, and it's hard to argue that fifty shades of grey was not the big book publishing phenomenon. >> it's not whether or much i loved it or how freaked out i was to see people reading this on the subway.

i would be on my way to work and women would be reading "fifty shades of grey," thinking that's not as dirty as i thought it was or -- it's a book aimed at women. it's not pornographic. it's erotic. it started as fan fiction. it was a self-published thing that became a huge mainstream publishing phenomenon. now they're going to make a movie out of it. i'm not sure how. >> yes. >> but apparently -- >> what rating will it get. it's interesting all the publishers got a big bonus. >> the world of publishing books they were able to give out a nice sized bonus. >> speaking of nice sizes, for music powerhouse couple, beyonce

and jay-z. $78 million. >> she made, forbes estimated she made 48 million dollars and he made 30. not just that, they gave birth to a baby and jay-z gave birth to the bark lay center. he's a minority investor in the arena, the nets who are playing there. he opened with big shows. two huge people. now she's shed her baby weight and headed to the super bowl and 2013 is going to be a good year for them as well. >> birthing the barclays center is not easy at all. >> no. >> tom cruise and katie holmes. >> one power couple on the other rise, the other split up.

kati had to fire her security teams and get local cell phones from the 7-eleven and her dad and lawyers helped with all this. one of the amazing things is how quickly and smoothly it went. >> for what it's worth, tom cruise keeps cruising along. >> he keeps on going as does she. she's on broadway right now getting guget ing good reviews. she's re-establishing herself before she got married to tom cruise, got married in a castle and all sorts of strange things happened. this is going to be one of the quickest recoveries on both sides. >> very, very quickly, what are we listening to in 2013. >> well, of course, we're waiting for the new cher album. there's going to be a new cher album. i know we're both excited about that. one of the interesting things about 2013 i'm not going to be able to tell you. it's going to bubble up from the

internet. we're going to see surprises in 2013. but watch out for cher. >> happy birthday n happy new year. >> for every video, there's a

extreme sports has never been more pop lark and the craft of filming super human feat is also getting attention now. we cently met with a few guys who turned their penchant for climbing and adventure into sending films. if you're not standing on top of the world, this is the next best thing. the footage can be hard to watch. it's even harder to turn away.

hue m human beings doing things at extreme altitudes they've never done before, climbing mountains without ropes, death-defying falls in winged suits. just as impressive, photographers. >> all we have to d is hold the camera, turn it on and there's magic unfolding. >> reporter: pete mortimer runs this out of denver, colorado, but his real office is here. places others can't or won't go. senders films documenting free solo climber alex honnold and sketchy andy. honor old was interviewed on "60

minutes." sketchy andy performed at the halftime show. mortimer was more than happy to show us how he created these films. >> reporter: you want me to angle where? >> i want to get you up there and dangling off the cliff so you get to see the world from our perspective. >> reporter: all right. easier said than done. first we had to climb up there. >> how's that going, jeff? >> these are definitely not climbing shoes. >> obviously we're here to do a shoot but in front of that at all times is safety. >> reporter: high above theian onfloor with wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour, it was time do this. >> welcome to our office. >> reporter: i've never done an interview off the side of a mountain before. what are the biggest challenge use face? >> the climbing. now it's gotten so far out there. for us to get into poogs, it's a

bigger challenge. we want to shoot things in a different way. mortimer does all this by working with the smallest and lightest equipment available. multiple cameras are a must. for our shoot he had four cameras rolling. all of his shooters are experienced climbers, and the climbing pros like matt segal are the best in the world. >> what is it like working with these guys? >> super fun. i've gone and shot out with these guys all over the world. >> reporter: is it more difficult to focus when a camera's in your face? >> not really. there's a trust factor. when they're above you, you definitely want to know they're not going to throw something on them. >> reporter: they were working flawlessly but something happened. it can happen in a moment.

mortimer's safety harness almost slipped off the edge. >> there was a close call this afternoon? >> yes. i probably have been on the bass teal formation a thousand times in my life. definitely like an instantaneous reminder like even on a fun day out there with friends and a film crew, it is darjs what we do. >> reporter: accidents are something mortimer's partner nick rosen knows all about. >> reporter: you broke your neck and your back. >> i did. here i am. the jerk with the neck brace on. >> reporter: rosen's broken back and neck happened in a climbing accident only three weeks before we arrived and those risks weigh even more heavily on mortimer now. he's maired with a 2-year-old daughter and another child on the way. >> i think i'm just that much more cautious when i'm up there. >> reporter: do you worry about the danger? >> i think pete's been doing this since before i met him, before we got together. i think if i got to worry i

would be worried all the time, so i sort of turn off that part of my brain. >> reporter: but if danger is part of the equation, so, too, is the passion to capture the perfect image. >> we think when people go out there and, you know, push their limits and really like redefine the possibilities of what humans can do that that's inspirational. >> wow. i could shoot that all day. >> can't even imagine, jeff. did you have any idea what you were getting into? >> it was definitely not fully explained but i did have a lot of fun. one of the very interesting things is they're not putting up nutty youtube videos, by the way. they're telling the stories behind the folks, why they do it, where they come from, and what their inspiration is. so when you watch these videos and dvds that's what comes out. >> that's one of the reason use were drawn to this story. >> absolutely. >> incredible stuff. good work. the web design company

techsharks looks like any other high-tech startup but it's not because it's based in kabul, afghanistan. we'll ask these young afghans about their dot-com dream

we think of california silicon valley is place whether they lauchb their startup dreams. but as reported there are signs of a new tech revolution in the works half a world away in afghanistan. >> reporter: for decades this valley has been known for little more than war, but take a closer look in qaa buhl today and you'll see smartphones and tablets, laptops, and internet cafes. and tucked away in the city's dusty officers you'll also find a small circle of 20-somethings dreaming of dot-com fortunes. >> in our business we use facebook. >> reporter: muhammad jafari is

a 26-year-old marketing director and web designer for techsharks, a startup building websites for afghan companies. >> we're building a digital world in afghanistan. a digital world that connects afghan world to other worlds. >> reporter: power companies, retailers. and their own company has grown to eight employees including founder ahmed reza zahedi. are you profitable? >> yes. >> reporter: next year, higher profits? >> yes, of course. >> reporter: techsharks is set to make a profit next year. a healthy profit where the average person make $4/25 a year. it's still not easy. business is done on a who you know basis. only a quart over adults are literal and only 5% have access to the internet. and those connections are not

exactly reliable. that hasn't stoppi inping hamraa website. he's brought in users. his goal, 1 million users as more launch to the internet and prices drop from hundreds of dollars. >> now you can get an internet connection for $1,500 which is around $30. >> reprter: so that's much better than it was. >> yes, much better than it was. it works. it still works. >> reporter: but these afghan entrepreneurs face an even bigger challenge than connection rates. their success depending on stability after coalition forces leave in 2013. ali reza akbari is a tech shark

computer guy. >> i'm a little worried about that. >> reporter: you're worried. >> i'm worried but but i hope for a bright future. >> they're working like their silicon valley heroes. their bedrooms are in their office. they're hoping their dot-com magic works out. >> reporter: why do you work so hard? >> we love our jobs which do it for satisfaction, not just money. we work for the future, not just the present. >> reporter: with two-thirds of the population under 25, these 20-somethings are afghanistan's future. for "cbs this morning," kelly kolb aya in kabul. >> favorite quote of the year. whoo do you work so hard? because we're crazy. >> same thing that drives a lot of startups here in the u.s. watch us tomorrow on "cbs this morning saturday." we'll meet a man who woke up

eight years ago with no clue as twho he is and the filmmaker who follows the man's desperate search. >> that does it for "cbs this morning." let's take a look back at the week that was. have a great weekend, everybody. happy new year. >> what's been done with these children has never been done before. >> something touches me, i can make it touch somebody else. >> merry christmas to you. >> our first christmas together. >> your christmas present to me is having to work with both of you, thank you so much. >> oh, likewise. >> you're welcome. >> millions of americans are bracing for a christmas day storm. >> this is a scene here on old shell road in mobile. roofs are off the homes. >> all the indicators. >> it's warmed up and that's what's driving some of this wacky weather. >> some mens of congress thing we will go over the fiscal

cliff. >> it's why congress has an 11% job approval rating. >> what's been the hardest part of this for you? >> i think about the parents, about those teachers, and they laid down their lives for the kids and those are the true heroes here. >> the most important thing is to provide greater security and safety and fuels through protection. >> doctors say that his condition is improving. >> what does that mean for the former president? >> well, guarded condition is somewhere between being stable and being in critical condition. >> schwarzkopf who served his country most of his life knew the value of peace and the price of confrontation. >> known as the king of character actors, charles appeared in more than a hundred moves. >> klugman played the sloppy sports writer, oscar madison. >> i was crying and crying and crying. i said, okay, i'm ready, you can call the police that hand your

life changed. i wasn't looking to be in a relationship. i didn't think that i would ever find someone like him. >> and your father said what to you? >> go. >> he said you've got to go. >> improve. say the word for me. improvisation. >> i actually played for the yankees. >> one day, one day. >> one day, charlie, one day. >> my joke was i saw one movie in 2012, with you,ever, that was going to be "argo." because i got to see it with you. >> zero dark 30. >> movies like that are the greatest recruiting tools. >> there were great return stories including peyton manning. >> there are, but it will not be the buffalo bills. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you. >> happy new year. >> thank you, you too. >> man, this is fun. >> despite the bills bashing,

i'm going to wish you a happy new year. ♪ ♪ w